August 14, 1998. Copyright, 1998, Graphic News. All rights reserved

THE KNAVESMIRE AT YORK
By Midge Todhunter

LONDON, August 18, Graphic News: ThereÕs a timeless quality about the Knavesmire: a mystical characteristic which lends credibility to every historic legend attached to this vast swathe of parkland on the outskirts of York.

Roman Emperor Severus started racing here in 208. All manner of ÔhappeningsÕ have gone on since, and by the 1700Õs the crowds gathered larger with the added attraction of public executions, including that of Dick Turpin in 1739.

But when this practice ceased in 1801, attendances dropped until new Clerk of the Course John Orton arrived on the scene some 40 years later. Realising the importance of handicaps to the betting public, Orton framed the Great Ebor Handicap over two miles and it was to prove the dawn of a new era for York Races.

Orton also recognised greatness, and three years later inaugurated The Gimcrack Stakes Ð a race which celebrates a horse that never actually won at York, but nonetheless was one of the most renowned horses of the British Turf. Foaled in 1760, this tiny grey (14hh) proved a phenomenal stayer winning 27 of his 35 races. Taken to France to win a wager that a horse could travel 23 miles in an hour, he was later sold to race in Yorkshire where he became known as ÒThe Wonder of the North.Ó

Originally open to all two-year-olds, The Gimcrack developed into a race where precocious colts would establish winter favouritism for next yearÕs Classics. And none more so than the great Mill Reef in 1971, who later went on to The Derby and the Prix de lÕArc de Triomphe fame.

But it was touch and go whether Mill Reef ran in The Gimcrack at York on that August day. An overnight downpour had turned the going into a quagmire. Against the advice of his trainer and jockey, owner Paul Mellon decided they should run. No decision was more justified: the colt pulled his way to the front inside the last two furlongs and strode home 20 lengths clear Òin a manner than had to be seen to be believed.Ó

Like all ÔtrulyÕ great horses, Mill Reef acted on any going, from firm to heavy Ð an example to all the Ôone groundÕ specialists of contemporary racing.


 /ENDS